Cognitive explanations of offending

Question 1

What are the 2 explanations for offending?

Answer 1

1. Level of moral reasoning.
2. Cognitive distortions.

Question 2

1. Level of moral reasoning

Answer 2

• Kohlberg proposed a stage theory of moral reasoning wherein he believed that some individuals do not progress past certain levels. These individuals are more likely to commit crime than others.
• This explanation therefore suggests that criminals have a lower level of moral reasoning than non-criminals.

Question 3

Level of Moral reasoning (criminals)

Answer 3

• Criminals do not progress from the preconventional level of moral reasoning- they seek to avoid punishment and gain rewards (they have child-like reasoning).

Question 4

Levels of Moral reasoning (Non-criminals)

Answer 4

• Non-criminals tend to reason at higher levels and sympathise with the rights of others, exhibiting honesty, generosity and non-violence (post conventional moral reasoning.

Question 5

Preconventional level

Answer 5

• Individuals at the preconventional level approach a moral problem from the concrete interests of the individuals involved in a situation.
• Their concerns will be whether Heinz will be punished for stealing and whether he will be able to live without his wife.

Question 6

Conventional level

Answer 6

• Individuals at the conventional level approach a moral problem as a member of society and take into account what the group or society expects and individual to do within its norms.
• The individuals considerations at this level will focus on:
  1. Whether a loving husband would do whatever he could to save his wife.
  2. Whether he could get help from the authorities and what would happen to society if all its members broke the laws.
• The concern is to protect society as well as ones own interests.

Question 7

Post conventional level

Answer 7

• Moral problem considered from an above society perspective.
• Person sees beyond current laws and norms of society and thinks about the principles upon which a society can be based.

Question 8

Levels of moral reasoning: Research support (Palmer)

Answer 8

• Looked at the association between moral development and offending behaviour.
• Suggested it is a specific moral values that are associated with offending and that there is a relationship between the two.

Question 9

Implications of Palmers research

Answer 9

• Intervention programmes should be in corporate training to increase offenders’ levels of reasoning and theoretically this would lead to lower levels of offending.
• Could also be caught in schools in areas where crime levels are high- this might prevent youngsters turning to crime rather than having to rehabilitate them afterwards.

Question 10

Levels of moral reasoning: Research support (Ashkar & Kenny)

Answer 10

• Compared the moral reasoning level of juvenile sex and non-sex offenders.
• Found that both groups had a pre-conventional level of moral reasoning.

Question 11

Ashkar and Kenny (findings in more detail)

Answer 11

• However they showed higher (conventional) levels when they were asked about their reasoning in contexts related to their crimes.
• These findings suggest that moral reasoning varies by context and that offenders have a lower level of moral reasoning which is specific to their offending type.

Question 12

Level of moral reasoning (evaluation)

Answer 12

• The theory of moral reasoning as an explanation for offending behaviour is criticised for its use of dilemma scenarios in developing the theory.
• The way a participant responds on a questionnaire and what they say they would do in certain situations is likely to differ greatly from what would happen in reality…

Question 13

Level of moral reasoning (evaluation- gender biased)

Answer 13

• Kohlberg’s theory was also based on data from boys only and can therefore be considered gender biased.
• Gilligan found gender differences in moral development, she argued that women focus on how an action effects other people and that men consider fairness and justice.
• Giving the varying rates of crime between men and women it may be that moral development in genders is different. This may explain why some crimes are committed more by men than women, and vice versa.

Question 14

What are cognitive distortions?

Answer 14

• Cognitive distortions have been considered important in increasing the likelihood of engaging in criminal activity.

Question 15

Gibbs research

Answer 15

• Investigated the role cognitive distortions play in the relationship between moral reasoning and offending behaviour.

Question 16

When do cognitive distortions occur?

Answer 16

• Occur when an individual forms distorted attitudes and thoughts that legitimise the offending behaviour.

Question 17

Gibb’s beliefs

Answer 17

• The main distortion used to support offending is egocentric bias.
• This is when an individual thinks solely from their own point of view, which leads to a skewed pattern of thinking. This type of bias makes the individual think their influence and importance are greater than they actually are.

Question 18

Cognitive distortions (Research support)

Answer 18

• Research has found that when criminals were confronted with their criminal activities a key distortion is denial, a mental process by which offenders reject the consequences of their actions and/ or blame someone else.

Question 19

Salter

Answer 19

• Denial can take many forms in sex offenders, for example denying the seriousness of denying responsibility. These distortion are ways of trying to ‘play down’ the significance of their criminal responsibility. This is known as minimisation.

Question 20

What is minimisation?

Answer 20

• This distortion can be described as self-deception, where the offender does not accept the full reality of the situation and attempt to rationalise what they have done. This helps the offender deal with the guilt they experience.

Question 21

Research support for cognitive distortions (Barbaree)

Answer 21

• In a sample of paedophiles and rapists, Barbaree found that a substantial number denied their involvement and approximately 40% went on to minimise the seriousness of the offence or the extent of their culpability.

Answer 22

• Minimisation and denial are almost interchangeably, and they are commonly used as examples of criminal’s cognitive distortions across a spectrum of crimes, not just sex related ones.

Question 23

Hostile attribution bias

Answer 23

• Where ambiguous events/ social interactions are interpreted as hostile.
• Leads to individual feeling angry or upset.
• An offender is more likely to misinterpret cues from behaviour, this then can lead to a hostile response, and, if the situation allows, an aggressive act.
• This relationship between hostile attribution bias and aggression is cited by Spielberger.

Question 24

Evidence for hostile attribution bias as a cognitive processing distortion.

Answer 24

• Orobio de Castro
• Meta-analysis of 41 attribution studies.
• Concluding that the bias had a very strong relationship with aggressive behaviour among children and adolescents.
• More recently research has demonstrated that this relationship holds in to adulthood (Bailey 2008).

Question 25

Impulsive aggression

Answer 25

• Impulsive aggression appears to be more closely linked to hostile attribution bias, whereas premeditated acts designed to be aggressive do not seem to be underpinned or susceptible to hostile attribution bias,
• This means that hostile attribution bias may be a factor in offending behaviour but is by no means the whole explanation.